


A Great Adventure

by rizzys_writings



Category: Sky: Children of the Light (Video Game)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Eye of Eden, Flying, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Spoilers, curses but not really, tell me if you want me to tag something
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27454855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rizzys_writings/pseuds/rizzys_writings
Summary: Follow a Star as it explores the world it woke up in.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	A Great Adventure

Chapter 0: The Birth of a Star

It’s cold.

My vision is blurry, and everything hurts. I feel like I’ve been knocked out of the sky.

Slowly my vision clears. I push myself up from the smooth rock I’ve been laying on. My arms shake from the strain.

“Hello, Little Star.”

The strange voice startles me. I shift to my left and there stands a man, towering over me. He is thin, a long white beard running down his chest. He wears black robes with simple, glowing white patterns, and a shining crown with edges that arch up with a single gem in the middle. In one hand, he holds a staff, ending in a diamond shape, a glowing orb floating near the center. The other is extended towards me.

“Don’t be afraid, Little Star,” he gestures for me to take his hand. 

I do, and he helps me to my feet. “Who are you?” I ask.

“I am the Elder of Dawn, Little Star. I pulled you from the sky and moulded you a body of your own from potter’s clay.” His voice is deep and gruff, rumbling from his chest.

“But Elder, I do not wish to be made of potter’s clay, I wish to be back in the sky with all the other Stars.”

“In time, you will return to the sky Little Star, but for now you are needed here.” His eyes glitter and I can tell he is smiling at me. “Come, come,” he waves his hand at a great stone arch, a gateway opens, showing a picture of a strange land. “You have much to learn, Little Star.” 

This new land, it intrigues me. I follow Elder through the gate, and into a new world. 

Chapter 1: The Beginning

“Manta! Manta get down from there!”

I can barely hear Birdie's voice over the wind rushing past my ears. I finally made it. I am atop the great Temple. After weeks of failed attempts, not reaching even halfway up the wall, after hours and hours of just barely making it, I am finally standing on the top of the Great Temple. My toes brush the edge, and my heart picks up. It is calling me. 

I jump.

“Manta!”

I spread my cape and catch the winds. The chill biting my face, wind tangling my hair. The taste of triumph-

“Watch out!”

I make an undignified yelp as I crash into the ground, kettle over teacup.

“Spirits Manta!” My best friend, Birdie, stumbles over to me, “Are you okay?!”

I pop up before she can pull me to my feet, “did you see that? Birdie I finally did it!”

She heaves a suffering sigh, the fact that I’m okay finally sinking in. She delivers a quick, painless jab to my ribs. “You’ve made us late is what you’ve done, we’re supposed to be teaching the new Stars how to fly!”

“Oh crab, I forgot.” Birdie grabs my hand, and we race to the island's edge, gliding down to meet the new Stars. 

I remember my first night here, many moons ago. I missed home. Laying in the endless sky with all the other Stars. But Elder chose me to join the walking world, but he would not tell me why.

Elder had taken me through the Cave of History, showing me the past with every wave of his hand. By the time we were done looking, it was dawn. We sat with our legs dangling over the drop of the cliff. He gave me my name. Manta. I do not know what a Manta is, but Elder tells me I will know soon. He took me down the cliff to a boat buried in the sand. A glowing child was standing there.

“Go on,” he said, “touch it.”

I reached out and touched the glowing child. It disintegrated immediately, into a million glittering particles. They surrounded me, shining so brightly I had to shield my eyes. It was over in moments, leaving a heavy weight on my shoulders. I looked down at the brown fabric. “This is your cape Manta, it will allow you to fly.”

Later, after settling into the Temple and resting, Elder would teach me about the magic that ran in the streams and veins of the Walking World.

“The memories of the Spirits you relive, and the Winged Light that allow you to fly, are imprints of real people that lived here a long time ago.”

“But Elder, I thought the Spirits were trapped here.”

“Oh no, Little Star. Once upon a time, the Spirits were trapped in their memories. But, the first Stars that I plucked from the sky freed them, many years ago. Now the Spirits are free to do as they chose, leaving their imprints for us to enjoy and learn from. But the Spirits were very grateful, and should you ever call them, they will come to you, with gifts and knowledge to share.” 

I nod as Elder explains to me, but I have another question. “What about the Winged Light? They are not like the Spirits.”

“No child, they are not like the Spirits. Every Winged Light you see is an imprint from the strongest emotions they ever felt, and with their happiness, they left magic for all the generations to come.”

There were other Stars. Honey, Lion, Rocky. They taught me how to fly, how to sing and call. Birdie came not long after I did, and we became fast friends. But slowly, Honey, Lion, and Rocky all entered the Temple one day, and never came back. Elder said they were on an adventure.

I’ve seen glimpses of what lies beyond the Temple’s back door. I’ve seen them in the strange people that sometimes come to visit Elder or collect the essence of our candles and dark plants. These people are all so different from the Stars who live here, with capes of beautiful colours and designs, and masks of distant animals I have never heard of before. They come with drums and horns and magic staffs that make fireworks. They come with friends, red string tied around their wrists. I still haven’t quite figured out what it’s for yet. 

Birdie and I land on the platform where all the new Stars are huddled around. They wear brown capes, just like me and Birdie. But they all share the same hairstyle, and their capes have 2 flight markings, where we have 3. 

“Good afternoon everyone, my name is Birdie, and this is my friend, Manta,” Birdie has loved showing the new Stars around since she’s gotten here, “what are the names Elder gave you?”

The centre Star speaks first, “he called me Rose.”

“I’m Oak,” the Star to the left says.

“Jey,” the last Star speaks.

“Before we start the lesson-” I interrupt Birdie before she can start, “does anyone have any questions not about flying?”

The Stars look amongst themselves before Oak speaks up, “what are candles? And what’s essence?”

Birdie beats me to the answer, “there are two types of candles, red candles, which are wax candles all around the land, and magic candles. The red candles are lit by people every day, and they give off a magic essence that everyone can take once. Dark plants, when you burn them, also give off essence. When you collect enough essence in your shard,” she gestures to the glowing crystal in all the Stars’ chest, “you can make a magic candle.”

I open the bag strapped around my waist and thigh to show them the magic candles I’ve collected so far.

“They’re so tiny!” Rose coos. She was right, they were about the size of my smallest pinky joint.

“Good thing too, some people carry tens of them at a time.” I let the Stars oo and ah at them for a moment before buckling my bag.

“What’s a shard?” Jey asks.

“A shard is a piece of you when you were a Star in the sky, it allows you to live in the body you have now, the one created by Elder,” I answer. The Stars look to their shards, the world making slightly more sense.

“Let’s begin the lesson!” Birdie calls. We arrange the Stars on the platform. “The two Winged Lights you collected, they have given you two flight marks. These marks allow your cape to hold enough magic to fly. Each mark is one beat of your cape. Your magic can be restored by the sparkle left by Winged Lights, collecting essence, light or fire, and other Stars. Your next Winged light will give you a little piece of a mark, and as you collect more Winged Light, you will have more marks.”

“Although your cape needs magic to lift you, you can still glide with none left, or without using up your magic,” I add.

Teaching the Stars to fly takes all afternoon and well into the evening. They are not yet used to their new bodies, so they are clumsy and uncoordinated. We have to heal several bumps and bruises before the lesson is done. 

“Ow!” Rose calls out, having fallen as we walk up the steps to the Temple for dinner. I rush over to her, “what’s wrong Rose?”

She shifts herself to a sitting position, her knee is scraped. “Don’t worry, I can fix that right up for you,” I call upon the magic of this world, etching a golden circle around her scrap, and down through the middle, before taking my finger away. It glows for a moment, tiny bits of rock and dirt pushing out of the wound as it closes. The spell dissipates.

“How did you learn to do that?”

I smile, “Elder taught me, he will teach you too, tomorrow, so you can heal your own scrapes and bruises.” 

“Come little Stars!” Elder calls.

“Quick, before all the apples are taken!” I pull Rose to her feet and we rush inside the temple. 

The night takes me to the butterfly cave, sitting on the cliff, overlooking all of the Isle of Dawn. Butterflies flap around me, settling down to rest. The grass ruffles, a gentle breeze, and Elder sits beside me. “What is on your mind, little Star?”

I watch the world below for a moment longer, and then I turn to him. “Elder, I have explored every crevice and corner of this land. And earlier today, I climbed the Great Temple and flew from it. There is nothing left for me to do. I have learned all your teachings, and I have taught many Stars.” I sigh, “I wish to explore where the older Stars go, like Honey and Lion, they taught me how to fly, and then, they left. I wanna see where the strange Stars get their capes, and magic staffs and-”

“I know, child, I know. And I believe you are ready.”

“Ready? Ready for what?” I couldn’t stop myself from hoping.

“To go, to explore the Greater Land. To get your own magic staff and colourful cape.” He chuckles, eyes crinkling kindly. It’s easy to forget he is a God of this world.

I pop up to my feet. “Truly?! I can go?!”

“Yes Child,” I help him to his feet, “yes you may go, but not tonight, tonight you must rest, tomorrow, at dawn, you may go. Now shoo back to the Temple, and rest.”

I cheer and laugh all the way back to the Temple. I push open the heavy stone door, racing down the steps to Birdies bed. “Birdie! Birdie! Elder said I can go explore!”

“Manta, you explore every day.” She lays her wool blanket down on the hay mattress. 

“No, not here, explore the Greater Land.” I hop up and down as I explain.

“The Greater- you mean beyond the back door?”

“Yes! Birdie, he said I’m ready!”

Birdie sits down on her bed, and I join her. “Why do you want to leave? The Greater Land seems scary.”

“What do you mean?”

Birdie frowns, looking down at her hands. She starts to pick at her nails, and I can tell she is nervous. “When the older Stars visit, they have scars, and sometimes ripped clothes for us to repair.”

“Birdie, we both have scars from learning to fly, and we’ve both ripped our clothes bumping into things.”

“I know but-” she snaps her mouth shut, refusing to look at me.

“But what?” I reach out and take her hand. She looks up at me.

“A couple nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night, and I went out to get a drink from the lake. When I was coming by Elder’s resting place, there were older Stars there, carrying someone, and Elder was rushing them inside. I hid, to watch, but I couldn’t get a good look. After they went in, I snuck by to get my drink and there was blood on the floor.”

“Birdie,” I couldn’t bring my voice above a whisper, “even small cuts bleed.”

She shook her head, “We all learn how to heal scrapes. Why would they come to Elder if it wasn’t serious?”

I frown, “Is this why you haven’t been sleeping?” She slowly nods. “Oh Birdie, you’ve worked yourself into a tizzy. If we could really get hurt, Elder wouldn’t let us go beyond the back door. I’m sure that Star was fine, probably got a scrape coming in, and hurt their leg or something. You know how much Elder fusses.” 

It takes a minute, but eventually, she agrees. “You're right, Elder wouldn’t let us get hurt.”

“How about I sleep with you tonight, that way you won’t be scared, and we can say goodbye in the morning.”

“Okay.”

We crawl under the blanket, cuddled close on the small bed. Eventually, I hear Birdie fall asleep beside me, but I am restless. Surely, Elder wouldn’t let us go if we could get hurt, right?


End file.
